Thursday, January 24, 2008

Rowlett to take DART chair Lynn Flint Shaw on walking tour of DART site

By Pegasus News wire

ROWLETT — Mayor John Harper and City Manager Craig Owens will host a special visit by Lynn Flint Shaw, Chairwoman, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors, on Thursday, January 24 at 1 p.m. as they take a walking tour of the proposed location of the DART Blue Line light rail station in Rowlett scheduled to arrive in 2012.

“We have met with DART on several occasions, including mobilizing our citizens to attend DART meetings, and now we have the opportunity to bring Ms. Shaw to Rowlett to see for herself what we have planned for our downtown development,” said Mayor Harper. “We hope that once she sees first-hand how our city is relying on the arrival of the DART station, she will understand our concerns from a new perspective.”

DART staff and several board members visited Rowlett in December and again in January meeting with the City Council, citizens and business officials in public meetings bringing the assurance that the DART Board has acknowledge in numerous statements that the agency’s position is to maintain the proposed schedule of the project.

Those statements were reiterated in a resolution passed by the DART board during their January 22 board meeting which in part states that “the DART Board reaffirms its intent to provide all planned Light Rail Service in a timely and financially prudent manner in conjunction with DART’s 20 year Financial Plan with a goal of maintaining previously stated completion dates and quality of infrastructure.”

Scheduled to arrive in Rowlett in 2012, the Blue Line will extend from downtown Garland to Rowlett’s Downtown District on Main Street, driving the engine for economic development. Recently, however, DART announced that preliminary cost estimates for the light rail service to Irving and the rail line to Rowlett had increased by approximately $900 million due to escalating costs of construction materials and services worldwide. DART began a complete project review and has reduced the differential by $136 million to $764 million.

In a report generated by DART following yesterday’s board meeting Ms. Shaw said, “During the January 22 board meeting, we again discussed potential cost-reductions to the Irving and Rowlett extensions, adjustments in DART’s 20-year Financial Plan that might provide additional construction cash, and new revenue sources such as grants or public-private partnerships.

“We have built huge expectations around having the rail line arrive with its original scope and schedule to foster economic growth in the downtown area”, said Mayor Harper. “Our citizens have spoken loudly that they will not compromise on the original scope or delivery schedule and DART has responded.”

Last week, Mayor Harper issued an email alert to dozens of citizens, civic leaders and business leaders today requesting their presence and participation as a part of the Rowlett delegation scheduled to attend yesterday’s DART Committee-As-A-Whole meeting at the DART headquarters. More than 25 people from Rowlett attended the standing-room-only meeting in support of the Mayor’s efforts. All wore Rowlett name tags, stating “Keep it on Track in Rowlett!” and others wore royal blue shirts representing the Blue Line.

At that meeting, Mayor Harper thanked the DART Board for all of the progress that has been made. He told the DART Board members, “I am grateful to the DART staff for the work they have done to identify and recommend solutions that do not change the scope or the schedule for the Blue Line to Rowlett, however, some of our questions could not be resolved since you, the DART Board, will make the final decisions.” He continued, “All that we (the citizens at the meeting and those back in Rowlett) are asking is ‘please keep your promise’. No more delays.”

Source: City of Rowlett

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